Granite State Comic Con Draws A Crowd

Granite State Comic Con Draws A Crowd

Nathaniel Smyth

For the Clock

nrsmyth@plymouth.edu

This past weekend at the Radisson center in Manchester, NH, the Granite State Comic Con drew writers, artists, and celebrity guests of all kinds. Some mentionable guests were Steve Cardenas, who played Rocky the Red Power Ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and Dameon Clarke, who voiced Cell in the popular cartoon DragonBall Z.

Right through the gate, there were cosplayers everywhere. There were stands and stands of comic books,, action figures, foreign goodies, and a general love of all things geeky. Not to mention, there were plenty of panels throughout the weekend as well as tournaments, including a Pokémon Stadium Tournament, food trucks, giveaways, and an after party.

The Saturday Morning Cartoons Redux panel drew a good amount of attention, as it starred the aforementioned Steve Cardenas and Dameon Clarke. On top of that, the panel featured Buzz Dixon (writer for G.I. Joe and Transformers,) one of the writers of the more recent Transformers cartoons, and Samantha Newark, a female voice actor who’s worked on multiple platforms. The panel was fantastic, and it was great to see all of these people come together to talk about their various contributions to the “Saturday Morning Cartoon” phase. Unfortunately, this phase ended a few years ago. With the popularity of streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu kids just don’t get up to watch cartoons on the weekend anymore. Gone are the days of waiting a week to find out exactly what would happen to the Power Rangers after near-defeat at the hands of one of Rita Repulsa’s various minions. Regardless of the state of cartoons these days, it was fantastic to hear all of these wonderful people talk. Getting the chance to talk with them one-on-one was surreal, to say the least.

The celebrity guests were just a small portion of the event. The show was about the independent people who pour their blood, sweat, and tears into their writing, their artwork, and their cosplay. There were many independent writers selling their work to get their names out there. It goes without saying that these guys need all the publicity they can get, even if it’s just a short review on a twitter post.

This year’s convention brought more traffic than previous years. The popularity of the con has been slowly growing over the last 15 years, and hopefully it will continue to grow. You can gain access to the weekend long event for just $35. If you’re looking to pop your convention cherry on a budget, check it out next September.